UK 



67th Congress,) SENATE, ( Kepoet 

U Session. \ 1 No. 486. 



,ECLASSIFICATION OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES. 



February 3 (calendar day, Febtiua:rt 8)-, 1922.— Ordered to be printed. 






Mr. Sterling, from the Committee on Civil Service, submitted the 
;,,.^,_ foUowmg , .i;:;; : t-7.: • 

2Z--2-fcnH REPORT, 

[To accompany H. R. 8928.] 

The Committee on Civil Service, to which was referred the bill 
(H. R. 8928) to provide for the classification of civilian positions 
within the District of Columbia and in the field services, having con- 
sidered the same, report favorably thereon with the recommendation 
that the bill do pass with amendments. 

The amendments proposed are formally set forth at the end of this 
report. 

ABSENCE OF SALARY STANDARDS IN FEDERAL SERVICE. 

The Government of the United States has never had an adequate 
system for the standardization and control of the salaries of its 
civilian employees. These salaries . constitute one of the largest 
items in the cost of the civil government of . the Nation, but the 
country has purchased services without any proper specifications. 
The exact amount an administrative official could pay an employee 
for a given position has often been fixed by the Congress, but the 
salary has been fixed without due consideration of the duties to be 
performed, and no general provision has been made to regulate and 
control the kind of service that should be secured for the money. 
Getting the right kind of service and pajdng for it a wage that is 
fair alike to the Government and to the employee are obviously 
prerequisites to good administration. Real efficiency can not be 
legislated into the j)ublic service ; it must be built in by the men 
and women who are in the executive branch of the service. Obvious 
as these facts are, the authority to fix wages and the responsibility 
for getting and utilizing the right types of employees for the Federal 
service have been so divided and distributed that no single agency 
can to-day be held to account for the conditions of employment 
existing in the National Government. Each agency can in turn 
prove that the responsibility is elsewhere. , . ,_ 



, p \^ 



2 EECLASSIFICATION OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES.' 

CREATION OF CONGRESSIONAL JOINT COMlvnSSION ON RECLASSIFICA- 
TION OF SALARIES. 

That the existing methods of fixing salaries were entirely unsatis- 
factory was a matter of common knowledge prior to the World War. 
When the United States entered that conflict and in the short space 
of two years approximately doubled its force of civilian employees, 
the iong-recognized defects assumed serious proportions, augmented 
as they were by the rapid increase in the cost of living. By an act 
approved March 1, 1919, the Congress estabhshed a Congressional 
Joint Commission on Reclassification of Salaries, composed of three 
Members of the Senate and three Members of the House of the Sixty- 
fifth Congress, ''to investigate the rates of compensation paid to 
civilian employees by the municipal government and the various 
executive departments and other governmental establishments in the 
District of Columbia, except the navy yard and the Postal Service, 
and report, by bill or otherwise, as soon as practicable what reclassi- 
fication and readjustment of compensation should be made, so as to 
provide uniform and equitable pay for the character of employment 
throughout the District of Columbia in the services enumerated." 

USE MADE OF SPECIALISTS EXPERIENCED IN CLASSIFICATION CLASSI- 
FICATION BY DUTIES DECIDED UPON. 

Tliis commission seemed to appreciate the fact that the situation 
called not for tinkering with the old methods inherited from a time 
when the service was small but for the development of a new one 
that will be applicable to a service with thousands of employees 
engaged in hundreds of different occupations. It found that other 
governmental units in this country and abroad had faced similar 
problems and that the National Government could profit from the 
experience of other jurisdictions. Specialists in problems of public 
personnel administration were invited to advise the commission when 
it was making its preliminary plans. The Civil Service Commissioners 
and the Cliief of the United States Bureau of Efficiency were called 
in for their advice and suggestions. 

Although the various specialists naturally disagreed in respect to 
details and matters of procedure and technique, they all agreed that 
there was but one basis on which to classify positions, namely, the 
actual duty to be performed by the employees. 

The commission retained the firm of Griff enhagen and associates, 
of Chicago, which has had wide experience in classification work, as 
its technical directing staff, and under authority contained in its 
organic act it secured by detail from the departments a body of 
men and women specially equipped by knowledge of the services for 
the study and the classification of the several lines of work which are 
carried on in the Government at Washington. Through a carefully 
worked-out system of committees it secured the advice and criticism 
of hundreds of Government employees, private employers, and private 
citizens. 



HBFtAl^Y O^ CONGRESS 



RECLASSIFICATION" OF CIVIL SEEVICE EMPLOYEES. 3 

THOROUGHNESS OF INVESTIGATION AND FINDINGS OF COMMISSION IN 
REGARD TO EXISTING CONDITIONS AND SALARIES. 

Without doubt the commission conducted the most comprehensive 
study of the problem of pubhc employment in Washington which has 
ever been made in the history of the Government, devoting an entire 
year to this work. Every employee in Washington coming within its 
jurisdiction filled out a carefully prepared questionnaire describing his 
duties and responsibilities and giving the other essential facts regarding 
his position. These questionnaires were reviewed by the employee's 
immediate superior, who was also asked to give his own statement of 
the duties and responsibilities of the employee. Each of these 
questionnaires was examined and on the basis of the descriptions of 
duties given therein, supplemented by the other data available to 
the commission, its classification was developed. 

The commission summarized its findings regarding lack of uni- 
formity and equity in present rates of pay in the following language : 

1. That the salary and wage rates for positions involving like chities and respon- 
sibilities and calling for the .same qualifications (that is, for positions of the same class) 
show wide variations and marked inequalities. 

2. That the salary and wage rates for positions of the same class are different in 
different departments and independent establishments, the scale of pay in some 
departments being markedly higher than the scale for the same class of work in other 
departments. 

3. That these inequalities in salary and wage scales as between departments are 
most striking when the rates of pay in the war-expanded establishments are con- 
trasted with those in the organizations that were not largely increased during the war. 

4. That the present system of paving bonuses tends to increase the inequality in 
salary and wage rates for positions of the same class. 

5. That rates of compensation in the Government service as a whole have not 
increased as rapidly as has the cost of living. 

6. That the amounts of recent increases in rates of pay in the Government service 
have varied greatly (a) as between classes of employment and (5) as between depart- 
ments. 

7. That the Government has no standard to guide it in fixing the paj^ of its employ- 
ees and no working plan for relating the salaries appropriated to the character and 
importance of the work for which sucli salaries are to be paid, and that the designations 
of positions now appearing in the Book of Estimates are inaccurate and misleading. 

. 8. That there is a large number of unnecessary titles of positions contained in the 
Book of Estimates upon which appropriations are based, due to the lack of definition 
of duties of positions: that this is a factor in causing lack of uniformity in rates of pay, 
and that this number can be materially reduced. 

9. That the lack of standardization in rates of pay may be largely accounted for 
bv the unrestricted freedom allowed in the administration of lump-sum appropria- 
tions and the rigidity of the present system of statutory appropriations. 

10. That the present method of fixing the salaries of employees upon their entrance 
into the service leads to inequality in the rates of pay for the same class of work at the 
very start. 

11. That the absence of any uniform plan or system for regulating increases in the 
pay of employees who have gained in experience and usefulness in a given class of 
work and the even more serious lack of any equitable system of governing promotions 
from lower to higher classes of positions have been very large factors in causing the 
disproportion in pay and work. 

12. That there is serious discontent accompanied by an excessive turnover and loss 
among the best trained and most eflScient employees, that the morale of the personnel 
has been impaired, that the national service has become unattractive to a desirable 
type of technical employee, and that the Government has put itself in the position 
of wasting funds on the one hand and doing serious injustice to indivdiuals on the 
other, and of failing to get that degree of efficiency in administration that a more 
equitable and uniform wage policy would bring about. 



4 EECLASSIFICATIOlSr OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES. 

CLASSIFICATION RECOMMENDED BY COMMISSION. 

As a remedy for these conditions the commission proposed that 
all positions be divided into classes on the basis of the actual duties 
and responsibilities of the position, so that all the employees in a given 
class would be doing substantially the same kind of work, would have 
the same general qualifications, and assume about the same degree 
of responsibility, and that all employees in the same class should be 
paid according to the same salary scale. It presented and proposed 
for adoption a classification worked out on this basis. Tliis classifi- 
cation contained over 1,700 classes, and for each class, with the 
exception of the higher administrative technical and scientific ones, 
there was proposed a salary schedule considered as peculiarly appro- 
priate to that particular class. 

For each class found in the service, specifications were prepared 
describing the duties of positions in that class, illustrated where 
necessary by typical examples, and giving the minimum qualifica- 
tions required for entrance to that service. To each class was given 
a short, distinctive title, with the object of substituting for the 
meaningless titles now in use in the Federal service a set of stand- 
ardized titles, the exact meaning of which could be understood by 
consulting the classification. The classification by the commission 
was not on the basis of titles but on the basis of the duties and re- 
sponsibilities of the position as reported by the employee and his 
immediate superior and as reviewed and checked by the commission. 
When the classes had been defined on the basis of duties and respon- 
sibilities it attached to each class a short descriptive title to be used 
as the standard name of that position. All the work was on the 
basis of the duties and responsibilities of the position regardless of 
any special or peculiar attributes or qualifications of the incumbent 
that were not necessarily utilized in his regular work. 

IMPRACTICABILITY OF REVIEW BY CONGRESS. 

The commission's report was complete and thoroughgoing. It 
made a volume of 884 printed pages and it would have been imprac- 
ticable for the Congress to review it in detail. It was designed to 
serve all the purposes of a good classification in modern. public per- 
sonnel administration. Review and control of the salaries by the 
appropriating agency is only one of these purposes. Any classifi- 
cation scheme used by Congress in making appropriations should, 
however, be in harmony with the classification used in recruiting, in 
assigning employees, in controlling promotion, in administering 
adequate systems of efficiency ratings, and in estimating for and 
reporting on appropriations, so that needless duplication of classifi- 
cations may be eliminated and so that all parts will fit together and 
give the Federal Government a modern system of personnel 
administration. 



RECLASSIFICATION" OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES. 5 

THE FIRST LEHLBACH BILL. 

Hon. Frederick R. Lehlbach, chairman of the House Committee on 
Reform in the Civil Service, fully appreciative of the legislative 
difficulty of passing upon the Reclassification Commission's bill and 
report, took the first step in the direction of simplification for legis- 
lative purposes, by reducing the number of classes so far as was 
then believed to be practicable, eliminating minor differences in the 
compensation scale, rearranging the material in a way that would 
simplify its consideration by Congress, boiling down the descriptions 
of duties, and eliminating the qualifications statement. He pre- 
sented his work in the form of a bill (H. R. 15225, 66th Cong., 3d 
sess.). This bill contained approximately 1,200 classes of positions 
and required for its presentation 420 pages. 

THE PLAN OF SENATE BILL 13. 

It seemed apparent that further revision would be necessary to 
permit of the consideration of the measure by Congress, and accord- 
ingly, Senate bill 13 was introduced by the chairman of your com- 
mittee, in which the specifications for individual classes were elimi- 
nated, positions were divided into broad services an the basis of the 
general nature of the work, such as professional, subprofessional, 
clerical, etc., and each service was divided into a number of grades 
according to the nature of the work and responsibility involved. 
Each service and grade was defined as precisely as possible and for 
each grade a salary scale was attached providing maximum, mini- 
mum, and intermediate rates of pay. The work of defining within 
each grade such individual classes as it might be necessary to recog- 
nize so that all positions in a given class might have substantially 
similar duties and responsibilities and require substantially similar 
qualifications, was left to the classifying agency, and, in addition 
thereto, the function of fixing for each class so established the exact 
compensation to be paid, with the proviso that this compensation 
should be within the limits for the grade as established by Congress. 
This device would give Congress a far greater degree of real control 
over salary payments than it had ever exercised in the past and yet 
would leave that degree of administrative flexibility which seems 
reasonable and necessary. The service and grade specifications in 
this bill were drafted principally from Mr. Lehlbach's first bill. 

THE SECOND LEHLBACH BILL. 

On May 18, 1921, Mr. Lehlbach introduced a second bill (67th Cong., 
1st sess., H. R. 6298) differing in many important administrative 
provisions from Senate bill 13, but following the same general prin- 
ciple of congressional control through a salary schedule of services 
and grades. 

THE WOOD-SMOOT BILL. 

In the meantime two bills almost identical had been introduced 
in the Senate and House, commonly known as the Wood-Smoot bill 
(67th Cong., 1st sess., H. R. 2921 and S. 1079), the Senate bill being 
referred to your committee. These bills attempted to solve the 



6 RECLASSIFICATION OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES. 

problem by establishing a series of salary grades without any general 
description of the duties of the positions to be classified under them. 
Instead of giving a general statement of duties and responsibilities, 
these bills gave a number of illustrative classes of duties which were 
to be treated as typical of positions in that grade. Positions not 
described were to be classified on the basis of their resemblance to 
others that were. The bills provided no standard titles and did not 
recognize the existence of classes under the salary grades, but as a 
matter of fact a brief and in some instances inadequate description 
was given of some 200 classes, mainly clerical, administrative, tech- 
nical, and scientific. These bills did not begin to cover the entire 
service in Washington. In many instances parts of the descriptions 
bore a striking resemblance to the descriptions in the work of the 
joint congressional commission, though they were as a rule not so 
complete and definite. 

BILL PASSED BY HOUSE ADOPTS CONTROL THROUGH SERVICES AND 

GRADES. 

After the committees of the House and Senate had held joint hear- 
ings on the bills introduced, the House committee reported out H. R. 
8928, which, with amendments, passed the House. It adopts the 
general principle of control through a compensation schedule of grades 
and services that was characteristic of Senate bill 13 and House bill 
6298, and is entirely in harmony with the principles of classification 
recognized by the congressional joint commission and indorsed by 
the leading specialists in this field of endeavor. >• 

The reasons for the important amendments recommended are as 
follows : 

The Important Amendments. 

classification by central agency instead of by department 
heads with review. 

The House bill provides that the head of each department shall 
allocate all positions in his department to their appropriate grades 
in the compensation schedule and shall fix the compensation of each 
employee thereunder, and that the Bureau of the Budget shall re- 
view, and may revise, such allocations. (Sec. 3, p. 3, line 21, et seq.) 
But a fundamental defect in the existing system is that different 
departments are paying different salaries for the same work, and a 
prime purpose of the present legislation is to bring about equal pay 
for equal work. The department heads through their staff of em- 
ployees have knowledge of the duties of the positions, and thus they 
can easily communicate this knowledge to a classifying agency. They 
are not expected to be familiar with classification. Under the House 
provision they and their assistants would each have to master and 
interpret the classification act. There would be danger of as many 
interpretations as there are departments and independent establish- 
ments. 

If the reviewing agency is to bring about uniformity, it would have 
to investigate the facts regarding each position after the department 
had passed on it and check up and frequently reverse the department 
head. In the judgment of your committee the House provision 



EECLASSIFICATION" OF CIVIL SEKVICE EMPLOYEES. W' 

would in no way reduce the amount of labor involved, if the legisla- 
tion is to accomplish its real purpose of bringing about interdepart- 
mental uniformity; and it might easily result in friction and irritation 
during the progress of the work because of reversals. Superficial 
or perfunctory review would be the source of serious injustices, either 
to the Government or to the employees, or to both. The committee 
therefore recommends (p. 5, lines 11 to 21) that the classifying agency 
shall ascertain and record the duties of positions and, after consulta- 
tion with heads of departments and with the approval of the Presi- 
dent, shall allocate employees to grades. Such a procedure will 
insure thorough and uniform work not only as to one but throughout 
all the departments, and will in our judgment eliminate a possibility 
of serious friction that exists in the other provision. 

THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION RECOMMENDED AS THE CLASSIFYING 

AGENCY. 

The House bill makes the Bureau of the Budget the agency to 
review the allocations made by the department heads (p. 4, line 4, 
et seq.) ; to establish rules and regulations for the administration of 
the system (p. 6, line 8, et seq.), to classify new positions (p. 6, line 23, 
et seq.) , to extend the classification to the field service and to make 
recommendations to Congress for the waiver of certain general rules 
(p. 9, line 16, et seq.). It provides that the Civil Service Commission 
shall assist the Bureau of the Budget at the request of said bureau 
(p. 3, line 25, et seq.), and that the commission shall establish uniform 
systems of efficiency ratings. 

The committee amendments give all of these functions, with certain 
modifications, to the Civil Service Commission. The Civil Service 
Commission would define classes within grades; attach to each class 
the appropriate salaries within the grade established by Congress; 
allocate positions to their proper grade and class, after consultation 
with the department head; and make the necessary survey and 
prepare the necessary plans for the full extension of the system to the 
field service. 

FUNCTION GIVEN TO THE BUREAU OF THE BUDGET. 

But a most important function is given to the Bureau of the Budget 
by the provisions of section 11 as an amendment to the House bill. 
Section 1 1 provides as follows : 

It shall be the duty of the Bureau of the Budget to make a study of the require- 
ments of the several departments as to the number and qualifications of the employees 
necessary to enable such departments and the several bureaus or divisions thereof 
adequately to perform their proper functions under the law; to consider what rates of 
compensation, consistent with efficiency and economy in the Government service and 
the maintenance of a reasonable standard of living, should be paid to the civilian 
employees of the Government; to make a study of the rates of compensation provided 
in this act for the various services and grades with a view to any readjustment deemed 
by said bureau to be just and reasonable. 

Said Bureau of the Budget shall, after such study and at such subsequent times as 
it may deem necessary, report its conclusions to Congress with any recommendations 
it may deem advisable. 



m RECLASSIFICATION OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES, 

However, under the Senate committee plan the Civil Service 
Commission becomes the principal administrative agency. The 
Bureau of the Budget is made the reporting and critical agency, and, 
of course, will be the estimating agency. It studies and reports 
on the system and makes recommendation to Congress in regard to 
the fairness and reasonableness of compensation as provided in the 
various schedules and in regard to the efficiency of the system, but 
it is not to be considered as the administrator of the system. 

The Civil Service Commission is the door through which the 
classified employees enter the service and it passes on the eligibility 
of employees for promotion under the civil-service law. Under both 
House and Senate bills it is made the agency for the development of 
efficiency ratings. The logical course, therefore, seems to be to make 
this Commision the central agency to give the Government a 
modern system of employment management and personnel adminis- 
tration rather than to scatter the powers and responsibilities over 
a number of different agencies which may or may not work in 
harmony. 

The Civil Service Commission is a going concern which, if necessary, 
may be further equipped to care for the proposed new functions. 
It is a bipartisan commission of three and not a bureau with a single 
head. It has the general confidence of the employees and of the 
public and is already equipped for the broad, quasi judicial decisions 
that will have to be arrived at in the installation of the new system. 

Placing the administration in the hands of the commission and the 
critical consideration of the system in the hands of the Bureau of the 
Budget seems not only theoretically sound but practically expedient. 
The Bureau of the Budget has had many important functions given to it 
and it has only made a beginning, although a promising beginning, in 
its work. It would doubtless be seriously embarrassed if it were to- 
day suddenly saddled with the enormously detailed task of revising 
the reclassification of all Federal employees. The Civil Service Com- 
mission, with its existing distinct organization covering the country 
and its experience in personnel recruiting, seems much better equipped 
to start the work. 

EXTENSION OF THE SYSTEM TO THE FIELD. 

The House bill makes the compensation schedules apply only to 
civilian employees in the departments and independent establish- 
ments within the District of Columbia (p. 3, lines 13 to 15). For the 
field service it provides that the Bureau of the Budget, as soon as 
practicable after the passage of the act, shall report to Congress 
schedules of positions which shall follow the principles and rules of 
the compensation schedules in so far as they are applicable to the 
field service (p. 7, lines 11 to 16). The schedules in the bill were de- 
veloped on the basis of facts regarding the positions in the District of 
Columbia, but many of the positions in the field are perfectly com- 
parable with positions in the District of Columbia. This is notably 
the cases regarding professional, scientific, and clerical positions. 
Considerable time and labor could be saved and the unsatisfactory 
bonus system cou^d more promptly be done away with if the legislation 
should provide that the schedules in the bill should be used for the 
field service in so far as they are applicable and that the slower process 



RECLASSIFICATION OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES. 9 

of devising new schedules and reporting them to Congress should only 
be used for such positions in the field service as are not properly 
classifiable under the salary schedules of this bill. Provisions of this 
nature are substituted for the House provisions regarding the field 
service. 

PROVISION FOR THE SKILLED TRADES AND LABOR SERVICES. 

The House bill omits from the compensation schedules "employees 
in positions the duties of which are to perform or assist in apprentice, 
helper, or journeyman work in a recognized trade or craft and skilled 
and semiskilled laborers (p. 3, lines 13 to 18). As the bill was 
reported by the House Committee it contained a provision that, 
subject to revision and approval by the Bureau of the Budget, the 
wages of such employees were to be fijced and readjusted from time 
to time by a board of three members to be known as the Federal 
Wage Commission to be appointed by the President and to hold 
office during his pleasure. One member of such commission was to 
have been chosen from the employees affected. This section was 
stricken out by the House and no substitute was provided. Thus 
the bill as it passed the House makes no provision for the skilled 
trades and labor services. Senate bill 13 contained a skilled trades 
service and a common and specialized labor service and for each 
grade of this service it was provided that ''the compensation for 
classes of positions in this grade shall be in accordance with the pre- 
vailing practice . ' ' These schedules have been inserted as amendments 
to^the House bill with this added provision : 

Where it is provided for any grade of the skilled trades or the comraon and specialized 
labor service that the compensation shall be in accordance with the prevailing prac- 
tice, such practice shall be determined by agreement between the head of the depart- 
ment and a representative of the class affected, such agreement to be subject to the 
approval of the Bureau of the Budget. In the event of a failure to agree on such 
prevailing practice, or in the event of nonapproval of any agreement reached by 
the head of the department and the representative of such class, then such prevailing 
practice shall be determined by the Bureau of the Budget on consultation with the 
classifying agency. 

This provision it is believed affords a simple, direct, and workable 
solution for fixing compensation where there is direct competition 
between the Government and private employers and considerable 
fluctuation in wage rates. 

IMMEDIATE REDUCTION OF EMPLOYEES ABOVE GRADE UNWISE. 

In the rules for fixing an employee's salary in accordance with the 
compensation schedules the House provided (p. 8, lines 16 to 19) : 

If the employee is receiving compensation in excess of the range of salary prescribed 
for the appropriate grade, the compensation shall be reduced to the rate within the 
grade nearest the present compensation. 

In the abstract this provision has much to commend it, but the 
wisdom of inserting so drastic and far-reaching a provision is, to say 
the least, doubtful and much harm may arise from it. 

The Interstate Commerce Commission has written that the inclu- 
sion of such a provision would require it to reduce the compensation 
of some of its very best men who are in positions of very great responsi- 
bility and who are receiving less than is paid by the railroads and other 



10 EECLASSIFICATION OF CIVIL SEE VICE EMPLOYEES, 

private enterprises for corresponding work. It might even result in 
the resignation of these men. They are now paid from lump-sum 
appropriations and their present salaries are not specifically author- 
ized by law, although they have regularly been reported to the 
Appropriations Committees. Other Government agencies in direct 
competition with outside organizations are paying salaries higher than 
those carried in this measure and probably will have to continue to 
pay them. The reclassification measure can not of, course, make 
such high salaries the rule for Government employees, but it does not 
seem like sound practical administration by strict rule to prohibit 
them as exceptions or to reduce them pending formal authorization 
and approval by Congress. 

The specialists in salary standardization who worked with the 
Reclassification Commission and appeared before the committees 
have been unanimous in their recommendations against reducing 
those who are above grade, to grade, even in cases where the em- 
ployee is actually overpaid for his work. Reductions of this nature, 
they point out, are harsh and in some cases are likely to result in 
suffering and hardship. The tendency under such a law is to mitigate 
the harshness by administrative action. An employee over grade 
may be assigned new duties for which he is not well suited so as to 
permit his allocation to a higher grade or he may be selected for 
promotion shortly after his salary has been reduced, so as to take 
care of him. This action is especially likely to be taken if his posi- 
tion above grade was due to his political or personal influence. The 
best practice appears to be to let the small number of cases that 
are above grade continue for a year at least so that the Congress 
may know how many there are and what their nature is rather than 
blindly to legislate them out of existence. An amendment has 
accordingly been proposed to make the provision read: 

If the employee is receiving compensation in excess of the range of salary pre- 
scribed for the appropriate grade, or class thereof, no change shall be made in his 
compensation so long as he continues in the same position and Congress appropriates 
therefor: Provided, That such position on becoming vacant shall be filled at a rate 
of compensation fixed for its grade or class. 

RULE REGARDING ENTRANCE SALARIES MADE MORE FLEXIBLE. 

Rule 6 of the House bill (p. 9, lines 1 and 2) reads: 

All vacant or new positions shall be filled at the minimum rate of the appropriate 
grade or division [class] thereof. 

In the higher professional, technical, and administrative grades 
the difference between the minimum and the maximum for a grade 
is several hundred dollars, a difference of such consequence that men 
who might be recruited at the higher salaries of the grade would not 
be interested in applying for the position if they could get only the 
entrance rate. In cases where the number of qualified men is small 
this exclusion of a few of them from the competition, especially those 
who were the higher paid in private enterprise, might prove a 
serious handicap to the Government. It has accordingly seemed 
wise to give the classifying agency, subject to certain safeguards, 
power to waive this rule. The rule as amended would read: 

All vacant or new positions shall be filled at the minimum rate of the appropriate 
grade or class thereof, but the classifying agency may, in special instances and with 
the approval of the Bureau of the Budget, authorize appointments at rates above the 



EECLASSIFICATIOlSr OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES. 11 

minimum for the class if such action is clearly necessary in the interests of good ad- 
ministration; and in exercising this power it shall not distinguish between applicants 
for the position or positions involved except on the basis of their qualifications for 
the performance of the duties required. The classifying agency in its annual report 
to Congress shall pul lish the facts regarding each case or class of cases in which this 
power is exercised. 

RULE REGARDING SALARY ADVANCEMENT MADE MORE FLEXIBLE. 

Section 7 of the House bill reads: 

Increases in compensation shall be allowed only upon the attainment and mainte- 
. nance of the appropriate efficiency ratings, to the next higher rate withiii the salary 
range of the grade, and not more than once a year: Provided, That in any case wherein 
a specific recommendation is made by the Bureau of the Budget, and the Congress 
specifically appropriates the money therefor, an increase in compensation may be 
allowed at any time to any rate within the salary range of the gxade. And for such 
appropriation by Congress this provision shall be sufficient authority. 

As Congress is not in continuous session and as it would take con- 
siderable time to get legislative action approving a recommendation 
for an increase more frequent than once a year or to a rate for the 
grade above the next higher rate, it seemed wise to the committee to 
make provision whereby this action could be taken administratively 
subject to proper restraints and with official reports to the Congress. 
The maximum for the grade would be legally the upper limit for any 
special increase, and such increase could not run many months before 
it would be reviewed by Congress. The provision as amended would 
read : 

Sec. 6. Increases in compensation shall be limited to once a year and to the next 
higher rate within the salary range of the grade or class thereof and shall be allowed 
only upon the attainment and maintenance of the appropriate efficiency rating: Pro- 
vided, however. That the classifying agency, at the request of the head of the depart- 
ment, with the approval of the Bureau of the Budget, and on the basis of facts clearly 
demonstrating that the action is in the interests of good administration, may at any 
time specifically authorize an increase to any rate for the grade or class to which the 
position is allocated. 

The classifying agency in its annual report to Congress shall publish the facts regard- 
ing each case or class of casas in which it exercises this power to authorize increases at 
more frequent intervals than once a year or to increase the compensation to a rate 
above the next higher rate for the class to which the employee's position is allocated. 

In no cas3, however, shall the compensation of any employee be increased unless 
Congress has appropriated money from which the increase may lawfully be paid, nor 
shall the rate for any employee be increased beyond the maximum rate for the grade 
to which his position is allocated. 

Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the promotion of an em- 
ployee from one class to a vacant position in a higher class at any time in accordance 
with civil-service rules, and when so promoted the employee shall receive compensa- 
tion according to the schedule established for the class to which he is promoted. 

Important Amendments to the Definitions of Services and 

Grades. 

classification of nurses. 

The House bill contained an "institutional service" (p. 23, line 10 
et seq.) to include ''all classes of positions the duties of which are to 
perform or supervise nonprofessional work incident to the care, treat- 
ment, and well-being of inmates of hospitals, charitable, correctional, 
or other Government institutions." It resembled fairly closely the 
nursing and attending service, of Senate bill 13. 



12 BECLASSIFICATIOISr OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES. 

Exception was taken to the classification on the ground that it failed 
to recognize the occupation of a trained, registered nurse as a pro- 
fession, and it was considered an unfair discrimination against one of 
the leading professions open to women and made up almost exclu- 
sively of women. Upon further study it has seemed entirely practi- 
cable that nurses whose duties require them to pursue a professional 
or scientific training equivalent to that represented by graduation 
from a college or university of recognized standing shall be included 
in the professional service, and that other nurses who are not required 
by their duties to have attained full professional standing shall be 
classified in the subprofessional service. 

VALUE OF MAINTENANCE TO BE DEDUCTED. 

In connection with the salaries for nurses, attention should be 
called to the fact that the bill provides (p. 7, lines 7 to 9) : 

The classifying agency shall make necessary adjustments in compensation for 
positions carrying maintenance. 

The salaries carried in the bill represent the full compensation, and 
if maintenance is provided the fair value of that maintenance will 
be determined by the classifying agency and d educted in determining 
the actual cash compensation. 

In several places in the House bill a cash salary was provided "with 
maintenance or the cash value of such maintenance." It is pro- 
posed to amend the bill so as to specify the cash value of the com- 
pensation to be paid in such cases and to provide for deductiona for 
maintenance. Stating the full cash value permits of ready com- 
parison between the compensation for a class that gets maintenance 
with a class that does not. Administratively the new form is better 
because it permits of recognition of the variations in the extent to 
which maintenance is furnished and in its value. 

ELIMINATION OF THE INSTITUTIONAL SERVICE. 

The new provision for the nurses would leave in the institutional 
service a comparatively small group of persons engaged in housekeep- 
ing and domestic service. They are practically all in skilled trades 
or in common and specialized labor and it is therefore proposed to 
strike from the bill the institutional service and to provide for these 
employees in accordance with the provisions for the skilled trades 
and labor services. - 

ADDITIONAL CALLINGS ENUMERATED IN PROFESSIONAL AND SCIENTIFIC 

SERVICE. 

In the House bill, and in the earlier similar bills, certain scientific 
and professional callings were omitted from the list specifically 
enumerated as professional and scientific (p. 14, lines 6 to 14), largely 
because most of the positions in the particular line of work were not 
in the professional service but came in some other, generally either 
subprofessional or clerical. Although the bill specifically provided 
that the specific mention of certain callings should not be construed 
to exclude other callings which are to an equal degree professional, 
the professional employees in these omitted callings who had been 



RECLASSIFICATION OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES. 13 

recognized by the congressional commission as requiring professional 
or scientific training equivalent to graduation from a college or uni- 
versity of recognized standing, sought specific mention. Three new 
callings, editing, illustrating, and transportation have been added. 
By no means all employees engaged in these three callings will be 
included, but only those whose work requires that they have training 
in a profession or a science equivalent to that represented by gradua- 
tion from a college or university of recognized standing. The clerical 
or subprofessional positions in these lines of activity will be allocated 
to the appropriate grades in their proper services. 

ADEQUATE PROVISION FOR THE RESPONSIBLE INDEPENDENT; WORKERS 
IN THE CLERICAL SERVICE. 

Under the House bill, with certain specified exceptions, no clerical 
employee could be promoted beyond grade 4, salary $1,860 to $2,340, 
unless he had supervision over a large clerical organization engaged 
in difficult or varied work (p. 21, lines 9 to 12). In the service at 
Washington there are some clerical employees who exercise no 
direct supervision over any other employees, but who are, because 
of their long and successful experience, possessed of an expert knowl- 
edge of the subject with which their office deals, or of its practice 
and procedure. They are the ones who are called in by administra- 
tive officials and upon whose judgment and advice many important 
decisions are reached. Their number is very small, but they are 
among the most valuable Government employees. Possibly typical 
of such positions are the highest class of examiners, who work inde- 
pendently and pass upon the markedly complicated cases that arise 
in connection with land patents, pensions, and Indian claims, or in 
adjudicating claims for excess charges for transportation. They 
often advise other employees and teach them the work without 
being directly in charge of them. To provide for this type of em- 
ployees the main provision of grade 5 of the clerical service has 
been amended to read: 

Grade 5, which maybe referred to as the principal clerical grade, shall include all 
classes of positions in this service the duties of which are to supervise a large or impor- 
tant clerical organization engaged in difficult or varied work, or independently to 
serve as the recognized authority or adviser in matters requiring long successful 
experience and an exceptional knowledge of the most difficult and complicated 
procedure or of a very difficult and complex subject matter. 

This provision would permit employees of this type after long and 
efficient service to reach a maximum salary of $2,880, while working 
independently or with supervision over a small but highly iniportant 
clerical unit, provided the salary rates as contained in the bill are 
approved. 

CHIEFS AND ASSISTANT CHIEFS OF NONSCIENTIFIC BUREAUS AND 
ASSISTANT HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS. 

The schedules in the House bill contained no provision for the 
chiefs and assistant chiefs of large bureaus not requiring professional 
or technical training, or for the assistant heads of departments. To 
provide for them it is proposed to change the title of the clerical 
service to the clerical and administrative service, to add a provision : 



14 EEGLASSIFICATI02^ OF CIVIL SEKVICE EMPLOYEES. 

for the assistant chiefs to grade 7 (salaries, $3,780 to $4,740), and to 
add a new grade 8, as follows (p. 23, lines 1 to 9) : 

Grade 8, which may be referred to as the executive grade, shall include all classes 
of positioils in this service the duties of which are to serve as the head of a large bureau 
or independent establishment not requiiing professional or technical training, or as 
assistant head of a department. 

The annual rates of compensation for classes of positions in this grade shall be $4,980, 
15,220, S5,460 and $5,700, unless a higher rate is specifically authorized by law. 

THE LAY INSPECTOES, BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

Lay inspectors of the Bureau of Animal Industry fall in three 
grades in the inspectional service; the inspectors working under 
supervision in grade 2, the inspectors working only under general 
direction in grade 3, and the supervisors in grade 4. In the District 
of Columbia there are no supervisors, and hence no provision was 
made for inspectors of this t3^pe in grade 4, but as there were in- 
spectors of each of the other grades provision was made for them in 
grades 2 and 3. This partial provision led to confusion, and fear 
arose that all the inspectors, including the supervisors, were to be put 
in grades 2 and 3, which would involve a reduction in salary for some 
of the supervisors. To clear up any ambiguity on this score it is 
proposed to insert the description of the supervisors in grade 4 (p. 32, 
line 22, to p. 33, line 1). 

CHANGES IN THE LEVEL OF SALARIES. 

The legislation herein proposed for standardizing salaries is 'not 
based on the theory that it is practicable or desirable to fix a level 
of salaries to continue unchanged over a long period of years. One 
of the principal causes of the existing unsatisfactory conditions 
regarding salaries is that the tendency has been to fix the salary of a 
position at the time the position is created and then to leave it at 
that rate regardless of the changes that take place in the cost of 
living and in the rates that competing employers pay for similar work. 
As a consequence, similar positions in the Government service created 
at dift'erent times carry very different salaries. If the cost of living 
goes up, the employees in the older positions become dissatisfied 
because of the economic pressure they are under, the more independ- 
ent and resourceful resign to enter private employment ; and the new 
recruits brought into the service to fill their places are, as a rule, 
not the equals of their predecessors.' If the cost of living falls, it 
brings the positions created before the advance in the cost of living 
back to a salary reasonably in keeping with that in private employ- 
ments, but it leaves the positions created during very high prices 
above the new level. To a certain extent the Government is com- 
pensated for these higher salaries in that it holds its employees and 
when vacancies do ocdur they can be filled with exceptionally good 
men. 

The type of men the Government is to employ should depend not 
on the cost of living but on the needs of the Government service. 
The person who enters the employ of the Government should have 
reasonable assurance that his real wage, as distinguished from his 
money wage, will remain fairly stable and that from time to time 



RECLASSIFICATIOIS!" OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES. 15 

adjustments will be made in Ms salary to offset changes in the cost 
of living. The entrance salaries for new employees should always 
bear a relationship both to the requirements of the service and 
compensation in private enterprise. 

BILL CREATES MECHANISM FOR READY REVISION OF SALARIES. 

The principal merit of the proposed legislation is that it provides 
a simple legislative and administrative system whereby the salary 
levels for the Government service may be reviewed and controlled. 
It proposes to do away with the practice of considering, or possibly 
more accurately failing to consider, each year the salaries of thousands 
of different positions, unclassified and ungraded so far as duties 
and responsibilities are concerned. It proposes to substitute a 
compensation schedule of services and grades that when completed 
for the field services will probably not be more than 40 pages in 
length in bill form and which can be reviewed by the Congress and 
its committees in a fraction of the time now required for an adequate 
review of the salaries of individual positions. The bill further pro- 
poses to require the classifying agency to maintain, in cooperation 
with the department heads, the closest relationship between the 
detailed duties of the positions and the controlling schedules fixed 
by Congress, and it places the duty on the Bureau of the Budget 
'' to consider what rates of pay, consistent with efficiency and economy 
in the Government service and the maintenance of a reasonable 
standard of living, should be paid to the civilian employees of the 
Government" and ''to make a study of the rates of compensation 
provided in this act for the various services and grades with a view 
to any readjustments deemed by said bureau to be just and reason- 
able.'' 

The establishment of a system for an adequate review of Govern- 
ment salaries and for a real control of expenditures for services, with 
due regard to the duties and responsibilities of the positions, is one 
of the fundamental reforms required to put the operations of the 
Government on a business basis. It has the indorsement of impartial 
students of Government administration, of many business organiza- 
tions, including the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, 
of progressive administrators in the Federal service, and of the 
great body of employees. 

SALARY LEVELS PROPOSED NOT BASED ON PREDICTIONS OF CHANGES 

IN COST OF LIVING. 

The committee has not felt called upon to predict the probable 
future course of prices and the cost of living m recommending the 
salary rates proposed in the bill. Some people predict a continued 
gradual decline in prices, and others, including Prof. Irving Fisher, 
believe that after the present depression prices will advance again to 
high levels, although not as high as were reached following the armi- 
stice, and that thereafter a slow decline will begin. Prof. Fisher pre- 
dicted to your committee that this country would not return to the 
prewar level of prices, at least for many years. As the situation 
appeared to the committee, it did not require a prediction of the future 
course of prices but the establishment of a system which would permit 



16 EECLASSIFICATIOlvr OF CIVIL SEEVICE EMPLOYEES. 

of adjustment to meet serious changes in the general level of prices 
and the fixing of a level of salaries for the present that fairly meets 
present conditions. 

STUDY OF SALARIES MADE BY RECLASSIFICATION COMMISSION. 

The research and investigative work necessary to fix the general 
level of salaries was done by the Congressional Joint Commission on 
Reclassification of Salaries. It considered what the Government was 
then paying for the several classes of work, with due distinction be- 
tween the old establishments, under statutory appropriations and 
with rates fixed before the war, and the new or war-expanded organi- 
zations, under uncontrolled lump-sum appropriations. It conducted 
original field investigations to determine what private employers were 
paying for similar services; and the Bureau of Labor Statistics sup- 
plied it with data on the cost of living in Washington and on the 
changes in the cost of living and in prices over a series of years. 

Careful examination of the salary levels recommended by the 
Reclassification Commission shows that the commission was con- 
servative. It by no means restored to the average Government salary 
the purchasing power it had prior to the war. In 1913 the average 
salary of the Government employees in the District of Columbia, ac- 
cording to figures from the Official Register of the United States, was 
approximately $1,134. The recommendations of the Reclassification 
Commission would have made the average salary in the neighborhood 
of $1,600, an increase over the average in 1913 of about 41 per cent. 
The increase that has taken place in that period in retail prices ^as 
over 80 per cent. The commission either anticipated a marked de- 
crease in prices and the cost of living, or else meant that the Govern- 
ment employees should permanently get a considerably lower real 
wage than they had in the prewar days. 

INCREASE OF SALARIES UNDER COMMISSION'S RECOMMENDATIONS. 

An analysis of the figures compiled by the commission regarding 
salaries paid on April 20, 1919, and of the bonus provided under the 
act of March 1, 1919, showed that the salaries recommended by the 
commission would represent an increase in payments for salaries, 
over and above the amounts then paid for salary and bonus, of about 
8.8 per cent. 

When the first Lehlbach bill was drafted, an independent check 
was made of the salary recommendations, and it was found that the 
commission had followed '' a sound and conservative policy as to 
salaries." The salaries in the Lehlbach bill and in Senate bill 13 
were based on those recommended by the commission, with some 
slight simplifications and a few minor corrections. These salaries 
were carried in the House bill when it was reported from the com- 
mittee, and it was estimated that they would involve for the profes- 
sional, subprofessional, clerical, custodial, and inspectional services 
an increase over base pay and bonus in the neighborhood of 8^ per 
cent ultimately, although the immediate increase would be less than 
that, because of the provision of the bill that employees below grade 
should be raised only to the minimum rate for the grade. 



RECLASSIFICATION OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES. 17 

INCREASES IN COST ELIMINATED IN HOUSE. 

During the debate considerable sentiment developed against 
making any increase in the average pay per employee. Reclassifica- 
tion under the rates proposed in the Lehlbach bill for the District of 
Columbia would have cost from five and a half to eight million dollars, 
and this cost would have been met by a reduction of less than 6,000' 
employees at the present average salary. In fact, the reduction of 
force that took place between June 30, 1921, and October 31, 1921, 
would have been more than sufficient to offset the increased cost due 
to reclassification. But the sentiment of the House was not only 
against increasing the total expenditure for salaries; it was against 
making any material increase in the average salary. 'To comply 
with the sentiment, the committee having the bill in charge offered a 
committee amendment reducing the original rates from 5 to 10 per 
cent, and it presented an estimate based on the figures compiled by 
the Reclassification Commission which showed that the ultimate 
increase for the professional, subprofessional, clerical, custodial, and 
inspectional services would be less than 2 per cent. When allowance 
is made for the increases that have taken place in salaries since April 
30, 1919, and for the provision for allocating positions below grade to 
the bottom of the grade, it can be fairly said that the rates in the bill 
passed by the House involved no increase in average salaries, if it did 
not in fact involve some slight decrease. 

The average salary under the House bill would be approximately 
$1,500, which is roughly comparable with the average salary of 
$1,134 paid in 1913, according to figures from the Official Register 
of the United States. These figures would indicate an average 
increase of $366 or of about 32 per cent over the salaries paid in 
1913. In December, 1921, the cost of living, according to the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics, was 74.3 per cent higher for the country 
as a whole and 63 per cent higher for the District of Columbia than 
it was in 1913 and the general level of wholesale prices for the country 
as a whole was 49 per cent higher than in 1913. The salary levels 
passed by the House obviously fall far short of restoring to the salary 
of the Government employee the purchasing power it possessed prior 
to the war and must be regarded as anticipating a rapid fall in the 
cost of living or an early reconsideration of salaries with the return 
of prosperity. 

AS TO APPROVAL OF HOUSE RATES. 

The committee has in general refrained from amending the rates 
as reported by the House, because under existing economic condi- 
tions and the present state of the national finances it is perhaps best 
to inaugurate a new system of salary standardization at rates ap- 
proximating those now being paid with the expectation that read- 
justments will be made as conditions become more stable. In two 
or three cases in the subprofessional and clerical service a slight 
addition has been made where it is believed the proposed rates are 
somewhat below existing rates and the nurses would receive some- 
what higher rates by the classification proposed for them than they 
would receive in the House bill, but the big difference is in the case 
of the professional and scientific service. 
S. Kept. 486, 67-2 2 



18 



EECLASSIFICATIOX OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES. 



HIGHER RATES FOR PROFESSIONAL AND SCIENTIFIC SERVICE. 



For the professional and scientific service the committee would 
restore the rates recommended in general by the Reclassification 
Commission and contained in the House bill as it was reported by the 
committeeand contained also in Senate bill 13. Under this scale the 
entrance salary for the lowest positions requiring scientific or pro- 
fessional training equivalent to that represented by graduation from 
a college or university of recognized standing would be $1,800 instead 
of $1,620. To the highly successful professional or scientific man who 
is placed in full administrative and scientific charge of a major pro- 
fessional or scientific bureau it would pay from $6,000 to $7,200, 
unless a higher salary is specifically authorized by law. The House 
bill would give such an employee $5,400 to $6,600, unless a higher 
salary is specifically authorized by law. This change would add less 
than 2 per cent to the cost of reclassification. 

The Government probably can never compete on the basis of salary 
with private business and industrial enterprises seeking to secure 
scientific and professional services. The rates it offers should, how- 
ever, bear a fairly close relationship to those being paid by the largest 
and strongest colleges and universities of the country. The following 
tabular statement gives the salaries now being paid by some of those 
colleges and universities. In connection with these figures it should 
be borne in mmd that the opportunity to rise to the rank of a full 
professor in a college or university is greater than the opportunity 
of a Government scientist to rise to the head of a bureau or even 
to the next highest grade of the professional and scientific service. 
In the judgment of the committee the money required for retaining 
a high-grade professional and technical service would be money well 
spent. 

Salaries in the leading State universities. 



Institution. 


Professors. 


Deans. 


President. 


Minimum. 


Average. 


Maximum. 


Minimum. 


Average. 


Maximum. 


University of Wisconsin . . . 

"University of Michigan 

University of Illinois 

University of California — 
University of Minnesota.. . 
Ohio State University 


$3,900 
2,000 
3,000 
3,000 
4,000 
3,000 
3,500 


$5, 075 
5,025 
4,918 
4,741 
4,456 
4,450 
4,432 


$7,500 
7,500 
7,000 
7,000 


$3,750 
4,500 
5,000 


$6,663 
8,400 
6,750 


$8, 500 
15,000 
8,500 
8,000 
8,000 
6,000 
7,500 


$11, 500 
19, 000 
13,500 
20,000 


5,500 
4,000 
6,000 


6,542 
5,536 
6,600' 


15,400 


7,500 
6,250 


12,000 
17, 500 








3,200 


4,728 


7, 125 


4,792 


6,748 


8, 785 


15,557 







Salaries in the leadinq endoioed institutions. 





Professors. 


Deans. 


Institution. 


Minimum. 


Average. 


Maximum. 


Minimum. 


Average. 


Maximum. 




$3, 000 
6,000 




$10,000 
8,000 




















$5, oa2 








Yale 


5,000 
2,600 


8,000 
7,000 








University of Pennsylvania. .. 


4,687 




$5,680 


$8, 000 








4,900 




8,250 



















RECLASSIFICATION" OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES. 19 

AMENDMENTS TO H. R. 8928. 

Amend the title so as to read: ''An act to provide for the classifica- 
tion of civilian positions within the District of Columbia and in the 
field service, for the standardization of compensation therefor, and for 
other pm"poses." 

On page 2, line 2, after the word " department " strike out the words 
''which is" and insert the words "who are." 

In line 7, after the word "service," insert a semicolon. In line 8 
strike out the word "and," and after the word "teachers," in line 8, 
insert a comma and the words "librarians, school attendance officers^ 
and employees of the community center department." 

In line 9, after the word "Columbia," change the period to a semi- 
colon and add the following: "and the commissioned personnel of 
the Public Health Service and the Coast and Geodetic Survey." 

In line 16, after the word "same," insert the word "basic," and in 
the same line strike out the comma after the word "qualifications," 
and strike out the word "duties" and the comma following, so that 
the paragraph shall read : 

The term "grade" means a subdivision of a service including one or more positions 
for whicli approximately the same basic qualifications and compensation are pre- 
scribed, the distinction between grades being based upon differences in the importance, 
difficulty, responsibility, and value of the work. 

After line 19 insert a new paragraph, as follows: 

The term "class" means a group of positions to be established under this act suffi- 
oientlv "similar in respect to the duties and responsil ilities thereof that the same 
requirements as to education, experience, knowledge, and atility are demanded of 
incumbents, the same tests of fitness used to choose qualified appointees, and the 
same schedule of compensation made to apply with equity. 

After line 22, on page 2, and as a separate paragraph, insert the 
following : 

The term "classifying agency" means the United States Civil SerAace Commission. 

Strike out lines 23, 24, and 25 on page 2 and lines 1 to 25, inclusive, 
on page 3, and insert the following: 

Sec. 3. That the classification of employees shall apply to ci-vilian employees in the 
departments within the District of Columlia and to the field service, and that the 
positions in such field service shall l:e allocated in accordance with the schedules of 
positions, grades, and salaries provided for in this act in so far as such schedules are 
applical le. 

For the positions in the field service to which the compensation schedules herein 
provided are not applicable the classifying agency shall report to Congress, as soon 
as practicable following the passage of this act, all necessary new schedules of posi- 
tions, grades, and salaries, which positions, grades, and salaries shall follow the 
principles and rules of the compensation schedules in so far as these are applicable 
to the field service. This report shall be made after a careful survey and shall include 
a list prepared by the classifying agency, after consultation with the head of each 
department, allocating all such field positions to their appropriate grades in said 
schedules and fixing the proposed rate of compensation of each employee thereunder 
in accordance with the rules prescribed in section 5 herein. 

That the classifying agency, after consultation with the heads of departments, 
shall ascertain and record the duties of positions in the graded ssrvice and the qualifi- 
cations of incumbents of such positions and shall then, after consultation with the 
heads of departments and subject to the .approval of the President, allocate to each 
grade or class thereof in each of the several services, as hereinafter defined, all existing 
and new positions which have substantially similar duties and responsibilities and 
which require substantially similar education, experience, and ability on the part of 
incumbents. 



20 EECLASSIFICATION OF CIVIL SEEVICE EMPLOYEES. 

Said classifying agency shall prepare an adequate statement giving (1) the duties 
and responsibilities involved in the classes of positions within the several grades, 
illustrated where necessary by examples of typical tasks, and (2) the minimum 
qualifications required for the performance of such duties and tasks. 

The classifying agency may from time to time designate additional classes within 
the several grades and may combine, divide, alter, or abolish existing classes. De- 
partment heads shall promptly report the duties and responsibilities of new positions 
to the classifying agency. 

On page 4, section 4, beginning with the word "Bureau" in hne 1, 
strike out down to and including the word '^ allocations/' in line 2, 
and insert in lieu thereof the words "classifying agency," and after 
the word "services," in said line 4, insert the words "and grades, 
and such," and in line 6 strike out the period after the word "neces- 
sary," and strike out lines 7 to 11, inclusive, and insert the follow- 
ing: "according to the kind and difficulty of the work performed, 
and may designate the rates of compensation for such subdivisions 
within the salary range of any particular grade,' ' so that the paragraph 
shall read : 

Sec. 4. That the classifying agency may make all necessary rules and regulations 
not inconsistent with the provisions of this act and provide such subdivisions of 
services and grades, and such titles of positions, and definitions of duties as it may 
deem necessary, according to the kind and difficulty of the work performed, and 
may designate the rates of compensation for such subdivisions within the salary range 
of any pai'ticular grade. 

In line 12, on page 4, strike out the word "That" and insert the 
following: "Subject to the provisions of section 3 of this act, relat- 
ing to the field service," and in line 15 strike out the words "Bureau 
of the Budget" and insert the words "classifying agency." 

In line 17 strike out the word " division ' ' and insert the word " classV 

In line 19 strike out the words "Bureau of the Budget" and insert 
the words " classifying agency." 

In line 21, after the word "maintenance," strike out the period and 
add the following: "and for positions requiring only part-time 
service." 

Beginning with line 22 on page 4, strike all down to and including 
line 7 on page 5. 

On page 5, line 8, strike out the numeral "6" and insert the nu- 
meral " 5." 

In line 15 strike out the word "division" and insert the word 
"class." 

On page 6 strike out lines 3 and 4, and following the word "grade," 
in line 2, add the following: "or class thereof, no change shall be 
made in his compensation so long as he continues in the same position 
and Congress appropriates therefor: Provided, That such position on 
becoming vacant shall be filled at a rate of compensation fixed for its 
grade or class." 

In line 6, after the word "or," strike out the word "division" and 
insert the word "class," and after the word "thereof," in said line 6, 
change the period to a comma and add the following: "but the classi- 
fying agency may, in special instances and with the approval of the 
Bureau of the Budget, authorize appointments at rates above the 
minimum for the class if such action is clearly necessary in the inter- 
ests of good administration; and in exercising this power it shall not 
distinguish between applicants for the position or positions involved 
except on the basis of their qualifications for the performance of the 



EECLASSIFICATIOlSr OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES. 21 

duties required. The classifying agency in its annual report to Con- 
gress shall publish the facts regarding each case or class of cases in 
which this power is exercised." 

In line 8, after the word "receive," insert a comma. 

Strike out lines 10 to 19, inclusive, and insert the following: 

Sec. 6. Increases in compensation shall be limited to once a year and to the ne% 1 
hisfher rate within the salary range of the grade or class thereof and shall be allowed 
■only upon the attainment and "maintenance of the appropriate efficiency rating ; 
Provided, however, That the classifying agency, at the request of the head of the depart- 
ment, with the approval of the Bureau of the Budget, and on the basis of facts clearly 
demonstrating that the action is in the interests of good administration, may at any 
time specifically authorize an increase to any rate for the grade or class to which the 
position is allocated. 

The classifying agency in its annual report to Congxess shall publish the facts regard- 
ing each case or class of cases in which it exercises this power to authorize increases 
at more frec^uent intervals than once a year or to increase the compensation to a rate 
above the next higher rate for the class to which the employee's position is allocate! . 

In no case, however, shall the compensation of any employee be increased unless 
Congress has appropriated money from which the increase may lawfully be paid, nor 
shall the rate for any employee be increased beyond the maximum rate for the grade to 
w^hich his position is allocated. 

Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the promotion of an em- 
ployee from one class to a vacant position in a higher class at any time in accordance 
with ci\il-service rules, and when so promoted the employee shall receive compensa- 
tion according to the schedule established for the class to which he is promoted. 

In line 22, on page 6, strike out the numeral "9" and insert the 
numeral ''8." 

In line 24 strike out the numeral '' 8 " and insert the numeral "7.'" 
On page 7, line 4, strike out the numeral "9" and insert the numeral 

In line 6, after the word ''grades/' insert the words "or classes 
thereof." 

In line 18, after the word "grade," insert the words "or class 
thereof." 

^ On page 8, line 1, strike out the numeral "10" and insert the 
numeral "9." 

lit In line 3, after the word "prescribe," insert the following: "and 
regardless of the department or independent establishment in which 
the position is located." 

In line 13 strike out the numeral "11" and insert the numeral 
^'10." 

After line 15 insert the following: 

Sec. 11. It shall be the duty of the Bureau of the Budget to make a study of the 
requirements of the several departments as to the number and qualifications of the 
employees necessary to enable such departments and the several bureaus or divisions 
thereof adequately to perform their proper functions under the law; to consider what 
rates of compensation, consistent with efficiency and economy in the Government 
service and the maintenance of a reasonable standard of living, should be paid to 
the civilian employees of the Government; to make a study of the rates of compensa- 
tion provided in this act for the various services and grades with a view to any read- 
justment deemed by said bureau to be just and reasonable. 

Said Bureau of the Budget shall, after such study and at such subsequent times 
as it may deem necessary, report its conclusions to Congress with any recommenda- 
tions it may deem advisable. 

In line 18, page 8, after the word "professional," insert the words 
"and scientific," so that the title shall read "Professional and scien- 
tific service." 

In line 19, after the word "professional," insert the words "and 
scientific." 



22 EECLASSIFICATIOi^ OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES. - 

In line 20 strike out the word ''apprentice" and the comma 
following. 

In line 24, after the word "professional," insert the words "or 
scientific." 

On page 9, line 2, after the word "professional," insert the words 
"and scientific." 

In line 5, after the word "economics," insert the word "editing." 

In line 6, after the word "history," insert the word "illustrating." 

In line 8, at the beginning of the line and before the word " patent," 
insert the word "nursing." 

In line 10, after the word "translating," insert the word "trans- 
portation." 

In line 12, after the word "professional," strike out the period and 
add the words "or scientific." 

In line 19 strike out the figures " 1,620," " 1,740," " 1,860," "1,980," 
and insert, respectively, the figures "1,800," "1,920," "2,040," 
"2,160." 

On page 10, line 2, strike out the figures " 2,100," " 2,280," " 2,460," 
"2,640," and insert, respectively, the figures "2,340," "2,520," 
"2,520," "2,700," "2,880." 

In line 7, at the beginning of the line and before the word 
"assistant," insert the word "the," and in the same line, after the 
word "professional," strike out the word "grade" and insert the 
word "grades." 

In line 11 strike out the figures "2,820," " 3,060," " 3,300," "3,540," 
and insert, respectively, the figures "3,120," "3,360," "3,600," 
"3,840." 

In line 20 strike out the figures "3,720," "4,020," "4,320," and 
insert, respectively, the figures "4,140," "4,440," "4,740," and in 
line 21, strike out the figures "4,620" and insert the figures "5,040." 

On page 11, line 6, strike out the figures "4,860," " 5,160," "5,460," 
and insert, respectively, the figures "5,400," "5,700," "6,000." 

In line 10 strike out the word "technical" and insert the words 
"the scientific." 

In line 13 strike out the figures "5,400," "6,000," "6,600," and 
insert, respectively, the figures "6,000," "6,600," "7,200." 

In line 20, after the word "professional" and before the word 
"service," insert the words "and scientific." 

On page 12, line 4, strike out the figures "240," "300," "360," 
and insert, respectively, the figures "1,020," "1,080," "1,140," and 
after the word "with^" in said line 4, strike out all down to and 
including the word "such," in line 5, and insert in lieu thereof the 
words "deductions for." 

In line 23 strike out the figures " 1,320," " 1,440," " 1,560," "1,680," 
and insert, respectively, the figures "1,380," "1,500," "1,620," 
"1,740." 

On page 13, line 3, after the word "investigation," strike out the 
words "or school attendance." 

In line 19, after the word "clerical," insert the words "and admin- 
istrative," so that the title shall read "Clerical and administrative 
service." 

In line 20, after the word "clerical," insert the words "and 
administrative." 



RECLASSIFICATIOlSr OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES. 23 

On page 14, line 13, strike out the word " and'' at the beginning of 
the hne, and after the figures " $1,440 " change the period to a comma 
and add the following: "and $1,500." 

In line 14 strike out the word ''full" and insert the word ''main." 

On page 15, line 16, strike out the word "chief" and insert the 
word "principal." 

In line 18, after the word "large," insert the words " or important." 

In line 19, after the word "work," change the period to a comma 
and add the following: "or independently to serve as the recognized 
authority or adviser in matters requiring long successful experience 
and an exceptional knowledge of the most difficult and complicated 
procedure or of a very difficult and complex subject matterr." 

In line 22, at the beginning of the line, strike out the word 
"stenographer" and insert the word "stenographic." 

On page 16, line 9, siter the word "major," strike out the word 
^'administrative." 

In line 21, after the word "establishments," change the period to 
a comma and add the following: "or to be assistant chief of a large 
and important bureau not requiring professional or technical train- 
ing." 

After line 25 insert the following: 

Grade 8, which may be referred to as the executive grade, shall include all classes 
of positions in this service the duties of which are to serve as the head of a large bureau 
or independent establishment not requiring professional or technical training, or as 
assistant head of a department. 

The annual rates of compensation for classes of positions in this grade shall be 
$4,980, $5,220, $5,460, and $5,700, unless a higher rate is specifically authorized by 
law. 

Strike out all of pages 17 and 18 and down to and including line 
18 on page 19. 

On page 26, line 14, after the word "supervise," insert the follow- 
ing: "the work of subordinates engaged in the examination of food 
products, or the inspection of meat and meat products and the sani- 
tary conditions of establishments where such products are handled; 
to supervise." 

On page 27, line 23, after the word "railroad," strike out the word 
"tracks" and the comma follomng and insert the words "track 
and." 

On page 30, line 16, after the word "police," strike out the semi- 
colon and the remainder of line 16 and line 17 down to and including 
the word "court" following the word "Federal." 

On page 31, line 25, after the word "work," change the semicolon 
to a period and strike out the remainder of the line, and strike out 
lines 1 and 2 on page 32. 

On page 32, line 10, after the word "personnel," change the comma 
to a period and strike out the remainder of the line and all down to 
and including line 12. 

In line 14, after the figures " $3,000," change the comma to a period 
and strike out the remainder of the line and all down to and including 

line 16. 

On page 33, line 3, after the word "department," strike out the 
remainder of the line and all of line 4. 

On page 35, line 8, strike out the word "relative," at the end of 
the line, and insert the word "related." 



24 EECLASSIFICATIOX OF CIVIL SERVICE 

On page 36, after line 19, insert the following 

SKILLED TRADES SERVICE. 



LlbKHKY ur \-unoricoo 



^ 011 798 041 8 



The s''!dlled trades service shall include all classes of positions the duties of which 
are to perform, assist in, or supervise apprentice, helper, or journeyman work in a 
recognized trade or craft. 

Grade 1 may be referred to as the apprentice grade, and the compensation for 
classes of positions in this grade shall be in accordance with the prevailing practice. 

Grade 2 may be referred to as the helper grade, and the compensation for classes 
of positions in this grade shall be in accordance with the prevailing practice. 

Grade 3 may be referred to as the journeyman grade, and the compensation of 
classes of positions in this grade shall be in accordance with the prevailing practice. 

Grade 4 may be referred to as the foreman grade, and the compensation of classes 
of positions in this grade shall be in accordance wdth the prevailing practice. 

Grade 5 may be referred to as the general foreman grade, and the compensation 
of classes of positions in this grade shall be in accordance with the prevailing practice. 

Grade 6 may be referred to as the mechanical supervisor grade, and the compensa- 
tion of classes of positions in this grade shall be in accordance with the prevailing 
practice. 

COMMON AND SPECIALIZED LABOR SERVICE. 

The common and specialized labor service shall include all classes of positions the 
duties of which are to perform or direct manual work requiring more or less special 
skill or experience, but no knowledge or skill in a trade or craft coming within the 
skilled trades service. 

Grade 1 may be referred to as the common labor grade, and the compensation for 
classes of positions in this grade shall be in accordance with the prevailing practice. 

Grade 2 may be referred to as the specialized labor grade, and the compensation 
for classes of positions in this grade shall be in accordance with the prevailing practice. 

Grade 3 may be referred to as the semiskilled labor grade, and the compensation 
for classes of positions in this grade shall be in accordance with the prevailing practice. 

Grade 4 may be referred to as the labor supervisory grade, and the compensation 
for classes of positions in this grade shall be in accordance with the prevailing practice. 

Where it is provided for any grade of the skilled trades or the common and special- 
ized labor service that the compensation shall be in accordance with the prevailing- 
practice, such practice shall be determined by agreement between the head of the 
department and a representative of the class affected, such agreement to be subject 
to the approval of the Bureau of the Budget. In the event of a failure to agree on 
such prevailing practice, or in the event of nonapproval of any agreement reached 
by the head of the department and the representative of such class, then such prevail- 
ing practice shall be determined by the Bureau of the Budget on consultation with the 
classifying agency. 

On page 36 strike out lines 20 to 24, inclusive, and lines 1 and 2 on 
page 37, and insert in lieu thereof the following: 

Sec 13. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and 
approval. 

o 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




011 798 041 8 



Hollinger ( 
dH 8.5 



